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False Profits (episode)
Voyager discovers a pair of Ferengi who control the economy of a primitive world; nearby is an unstable wormhole that leads back home. Summary While following a wormhole, discovers a primitive planet with its civilization in a Bronze Age type civilization, where there is evidence of a modulated energy discharge consistent with those that come from Alpha Quadrant replicators. Chakotay and Tom Paris are sent to the planet to investigate, where they that a pair of Ferengi, Arridor and Kol, crash-landed and exploited a local myth about the Great Sages who were prophesied to come from the sky in a ball of fire (which was covered by burning plasma). The Takarians worshipped the Ferengi as gods. Voyager beams the Ferengi aboard to try and take them back to Alpha Quadrant to end the exploitation, but - after a lengthy speech from one of the Ferengi - they realise that they can not just kidnap the Takarians' gods, and as such send them back to the surface. Neelix then attempts to imitate the Grand Proxy, representative of the Grand Nagus, but to no avail - the Ferengi on planet invoke the 'unwritten rule' - if no rules apply, make one up. The Ferengi discover his plot due to this rule (the new rule was if the Proxy attempts to take them to the Nagus, kill him). However, his Ferengi disguise would still pay off, as he was believed to be a "holy one", or "Greater Sage." Once Chakotay paid off the Takarian bard who tried to collect money from them before for the tale of the fate of the Sages, Neelix was able to enact a plan. Posing as the Holy Pilgrim, Neelix drew on myth in the Song of the Sages about their departure, and the Takarians attempted to burn Arridor, Kol, and Neelix at the stake. Fortunately, Voyager beamed them out in time, fulfilling the Takarian prophecies about the Sages returning to the skies. Voyager utilized three photon bursts to further fulfill the part about the appearance of three new stars in the sky. Voyager is now ready to pass through the wormhole and return in the Alpha Quadrant, but Arridor and Kol manage to overwhelm two security guards and to escape from the ship with their shuttle. Voyager tries to beam them back, but they emit a graviton impulse in order to avoid transport. The two Ferengi are pulled into the wormhole, Voyager tries to pursue them but soon discovers that the graviton impulse has definitively destabilized the wormhole, knocking it off its axis so that it begins jumping erratically on both ends. This not only allows the Ferengi to flee, but also leaves Voyager crew stranded in the Delta Quadrant, about 69,000 light years away from home. Log entries *"Captain's log, stardate 50074.3. We have detected evidence that a wormhole recently appeared, and then disappeared, in a nearby solar system. We're on our way there to investigate." *"Captain's log, stardate 50074.5. Based on information provided by the probe, we have replicated local attire for Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Paris. They have gone to the surface to investigate." *"Captain's log, supplemental. I've been asked to join Lieutenant Torres and Ensign Kim in the science lab to hear what they've termed as 'very exciting news'." *"Captain's log, supplemental. The away team has returned with some very disturbing observations about the situation on the planet." Memorable quotes "My sandal shop is failing. I can no longer feed my family." "Same old song." "My wife and her mother, my five children, the baby." "That's seven employees - eight, if you count the infant. How can your shop be failing? You're not paying them, are you?" : - The sandal maker and Kol "What ''are we going to do?" "''What a Ferengi always does in a situation this grave." "Panic?" "No, you idiot! He goes to the Rules of Acquisition. Unabridged and fully annotated with all 47 commentaries, all 900 major and minor judgments, all 10,000 considered opinions. There's a rule for ''every conceivable situation." : - '''Kol' and Arridor "Grand proxy, avoidance of... Mm-mm." "Grand proxy, censure by..." "Grand proxy, encounters with..." "See... 'hopeless situation.'" : - Arridor, trying to find a way around following the Grand Proxy's orders "I told you there was no rule." "Then it's time to invoke the unwritten rule." "The unwritten rule?" "When no appropriate rule applies... make one up." "That's a very good rule." : - Arridor and Kol "Who's to say we aren't their sages, captain?" "Don't be ridiculous." "You mean... we really are the sages?" : - Arridor, Captain Janeway and Kol "We won. We won!" "No, my friend. Not exactly. To be precise... we won again." : - Kol and Arridor "But how do we get two Ferengi to just walk away from a monopoly on an entire economy?" "What motivates a Ferengi?" "Profit." "Then we must find a way to make it more profitable for them to leave. Or less profitable to stay." "How do we do that?" "We have to out-Ferengi... the Ferengi." : Tom Paris and Captain Janeway about the plot with Neelix pretending to be Grand Proxy "And may I say gentlemen, you both have very fine shoes." "Excuse me?" "Well, the sages say you can tell a great deal about a man from his shoes, and I can tell from your shoes, you're men of refinement." : - Merchant to Tom Paris and Chakotay "Arridor?" "What is it now?" "We had ''seven years of pure profit." (laughing) "''We did, didn't we?" : - Kol and Arridor while being burned Background Information * This episode incorporates story elements from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Arridor and Kol were originally lost in the Delta Quadrant through the Barzan wormhole in . The Rules of Acquisition and the Divine Treasury were introduced in Deep Space Nine. * Much of the premise of Voyager is based on references from that episode, the first show to use the term "Delta Quadrant" and establish its extreme distance (and tendency for unstable spatial phenomena like wormholes). * It is revealed here that there are 47 commentaries on the Rules of Acquisition. * Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #95; a #299 was referenced but is fake. * Arridor's Unwritten Rule of Acquisition: When no appropriate rule applies, make one up. * The events of this episode represent the seventh time (aside from the series premiere) that the Voyager crew has a possibility of returning home. * According to the Star Trek: Voyager Companion, this episode was shot during the second season but was held back for airing during season three. * Among the items from this episode which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay is a Ferengi ear jewelry lot. * Neelix is surgically altered to pose as the Ferengi Grand Proxy in this episode. Ethan Phillips previously played a real Ferengi, Dr. Farek, in , and would later play another one, Ulis, in . Awards * This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series (Robert Blackman). Video and DVD releases * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.3, * As part of the VOY Season 3 DVD collection Links and references Guest stars *Dan Shor as Arridor *Leslie Jordan as Kol *Michael Ensign as the bard *Rob LaBelle as Kafar *Alan Altshuld as the sandal maker *John Walter Davis as the merchant Uncredited co-stars *Christine Artecona as Takarian female #3 *Kimm Collinsworth as Takarian female #1 *Tarik Ergin as Ayala *Shepard Ross as Murphy * Unknown actress as Takarian female #2 References 47; Alpha Quadrant; annular confinement beam; Barzan wormhole; containment field; dampening field; Delta Quadrant; Divine Treasury; ''Enterprise''-D, USS; Ferengi; Rules of Acquisition; Ferengi shuttle; frang; Ga'nah Province; Grand Proxy; gravimetric shift; gravitational eddy; graviton; Great Sages; Holy Pilgrim; ionic disruption field; metallurgical analysis; phase profile; photon burst; plasma; quadruple lobe rub; reconnaissance probe; replicator; sandal maker; solar flare; Song of the Sages; subspace axis; subspace carrier wave; subspace instability; Takar; Takarian; verteron; wormhole |next= }} Category:VOY episodes de:Das Wurmloch es:False Profits nl:False Profits